Walton High School - Periwinkle Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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Doelrq c1ncl Lile Poetry is man's contribution to the happiness of mankind and his gift to posterity. Fevv are given that spark of genius, that depth of feeling, and that fluency of expression vvith vvhich the poet raises himself and others to the heights of emotion and spirituality, l'The power of poetry, says Masefield, 'llies in the ability to gladden every effort, deepen every feeling, and hallovv every spot. That is great poetry, the poetry that vvill live until the pages on which it is vvritten turn to dust, and beyond that, in the souls of men. 1 Such a piece of work is the Bible, the greatest poem of the vvorld, The joy and thanksgiving vvith vvhich the children of Israel burst into exultant song pour into our hearts a feeling of jubilance and rejoicing. We feel that our efforts, our faithfulness and cour- age vvill not go unrevvarded. Soon our voices, too, vvill ring with the joy of an accomplished task and an attained goal. The beautiful Psalms of David, his prayers and lamentations, all burst from his soul as the hidden spring gushes from the moun- tain rocks, The shepherd boy, sitting among his flocks, sings to the heavens above a song of faith and peace. Nl-le maketh me to lie dovvn in green pastures l-le leadeth me beside the still vvaters l-le restoreth my soul There is no part of the Bible vve could omit, for its beauty and povver are not to be measured. Poetry surged dovvn through the centuries like an ocean vvave. Homer and Virgil left their glorious epics of beautiful Greece and Imperial Rome, epics vvhich are destined to live as long as man retains his love for beauty and his adoration of art. Through the dark ages, the light of spiritual culture remained still burning, to burst forth anevv during the Renaissance and the age of Elizabeth Poetry continued to record human sorrovvs and joys, to inspire the souls of artists and musicians, and to create for men nevv vvorlds, nevv ideals, a nevv life, Through the rhythmical lines there come the heart of the poet himself, his suffering, and his heartaches. lt is by means of his magical art that he seeks to create a vvorld of the imagination which vvill transport him to a land vvhere music fills the air and life passes like a dream, Such a poet vvas lohn Keats, vvho, though doomed 'H O O 5 I Q I Q Kel I 9 5

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6 9'! I Q C its -9 I That a catastrophe is approaching cannot be denied. Already black menacing clouds ot vvar pierce through the twilight. Several years ago, H. C. Wells wrote, lt is a neck and neck race between the torces ot education and catastrophe. The World War seriously undermined the virile strength of Europeg the next vvar, it it comes, vvill destroy the supremacy ot the vvhite race, it not the race itselt. Whom are vve to heed? lvlilitarists preaching the inevitability ot vvar? Leaders demonstrating the avvtul spectacle ot unlimited tyranny? Those mercenary men vvho caused the last vvar? Or will you turn to Emerson vvho urges international brotherhood, who deplores vvar and destruction, and loves all mankind, Will you turn to Emerson vvho glorities Peace, Learning, Nature and Beauty? l-le is the symbol representing all humanitarians vvho desire an end to misery. Will it be chaos, ruin and misery, or beatitude? The Cod vvho gives us lite does not give us the moral right ot persecution and destruction, Will you have posterity groan in agony, or vvill you have it tenderly respect your memory? Will it be militarists or Emerson? Today, vvhen the arch-enemy ot the world is tear, what better motto can vve, as graduates ot our Well-loved Alma lvlater take, as we journey into the world ot higher education and vvork, than those vvords ot Emerson: That man has not learned the lesson of lite vvho does not conquer a daily tear, DOROTHY LEVINE

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O 0 I I PSE? K o .1 s 4 254 and dying, wrote of the beauty of living. Keats knew that his end was near, and that the beauty which he worshipped in this world was not to be for long. Yet, in the 'Ode to the Nightingale, he cries out with a sad heart: Thou wast not born for death, Immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down. When we know the story of Keats' suffering life and early death, these lines are filled with a stark realism and deep feeling. These records of high emotion are what reveal to us the true poet, for we are reading not about the poet but we are reading the poet himself, Although heartache and suffering are revealed in poetry, there are many poems of joy, hope, and happiness. Bliss Carman, with his cheerful songs of gypsies, nature, and romance gives this feeling of delight. As we roam with him along mountain glades, under leafy foliage, and among singing forests, our hearts, too, feel the echo of his ecstasy. The nightingale's song is more hauntingly melancholy, the sun shines more brilliantly, the breezes are more tender and fresh, when the poet has opened our senses to them. A world of new wonders unfolds, song and rejoicing fill our hearts, and we, too, know that beauty is truth, truth, beauty. Everyone who reads poetry is influenced in his thoughts and actions by the words of these philosophers. When reading Shelley or Byron, who is not moved by a call of freedom and liberty? Who reads Walt Whitman without grasping the true meaning of democ- racy? Surely, these poets impress the very depths of a person's soul and feelings, Whose mind does not revolt from the horror of war at these powerful words: l saw the debris, and the debris of all the slain soldiers of the war . . . They themselves were fully at rest, they suffered not. The living remained and suffered, the mother suffered And the wife and the child and the musing comrade suffered, And the armies that remained suffered? 4 i Yes, and we, too, suffer when we remember the horror and t-he misery, and we, too, suffer when we remember the horror and the fight for liberty and freedoms But far greater are those who sing of peace, of the cause of humanity and love of their fellow men, for their poetry brings to the world a feeling of brotherhood and companionship which is not confined to one nation or people.